Article
Environmental Sciences
Ju Liang, Jim Haywood
Summary: Atmospheric rivers (ARs) play a significant role in extreme precipitation events in East Asia. The increase in AR frequency and associated precipitation in a warmer climate is found, with the most pronounced changes observed in southern China. Stratospheric aerosol intervention (SAI) can partially mitigate the increase in AR activity in the subtropical region, but may result in more pronounced increases in ARs and precipitation in the upper-midlatitude regions, particularly northeastern China.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jacob W. Smith, Andrew C. Bushell, Neal Butchart, Peter H. Haynes, Amanda C. Maycock
Summary: This study investigates the impact of convective ice sublimation on stratospheric water vapor and finds that it is constrained by the vertical profile of temperature and saturation vapor pressure in the tropical tropopause layer. The study also shows that the relative contributions to stratospheric water vapor from sublimation and large-scale transport remain unchanged when CO2 is increased under climate change.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yunqian Zhu, Charles G. Bardeen, Simone Tilmes, Michael J. Mills, Xinyue Wang, V. Lynn Harvey, Ghassan Taha, Douglas Kinnison, Robert W. Portmann, Pengfei Yu, Karen H. Rosenlof, Melody Avery, Corinna Kloss, Can Li, Anne S. Glanville, Luis Millan, Terry Deshler, Nickolay Krotkov, Owen B. Toon
Summary: The January 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano injected a significant amount of water into the stratosphere, which resulted in large perturbations to stratospheric aerosol evolution. The eruption is expected to continue impacting the climate system by increasing aerosol surface area and water vapor until at least October 2022.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Fernando Iglesias-Suarez, Oliver Wild, Douglas E. Kinnison, Rolando R. Garcia, Daniel R. Marsh, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Edmund M. Ryan, Sean M. Davis, Roland Eichinger, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Paul J. Young
Summary: Observations and modeling suggest an acceleration of the stratospheric Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC) driven by climate change and ozone depletion. However, natural variability can impede detection of these changes. By accounting for Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO)-like variability in the BDC, a trend of approximately 7%-10% dec(-1) was modeled over 1979-2010. Sea surface temperatures explain up to 50% of simulated decadal variability in tropical mid-stratospheric ozone.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Wuhu Feng, John M. C. Plane, Martyn P. P. Chipperfield, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Jean-Paul Booth
Summary: We used a 3-D Whole Atmospheric Community Climate Model to examine the effects of small satellite launches with an iodine propulsion system on stratospheric ozone depletion. The model suggests that the emissions from these satellites can reach the troposphere within a 4-year timescale. In the base case scenario of 40,000 small satellite launches per year, the impact on global stratospheric ozone is negligible, while a 100-fold increase in launch rate could lead to significant ozone depletion over the polar regions.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
James Keeble, Birgit Hassler, Antara Banerjee, Ramiro Checa-Garcia, Gabriel Chiodo, Sean Davis, Veronika Eyring, Paul T. Griffiths, Olaf Morgenstern, Peer Nowack, Guang Zeng, Jiankai Zhang, Greg Bodeker, Susannah Burrows, Philip Cameron-Smith, David Cugnet, Christopher Danek, Makoto Deushi, Larry W. Horowitz, Anne Kubin, Lijuan Li, Gerrit Lohmann, Martine Michou, Michael J. Mills, Pierre Nabat, Dirk Olivie, Sungsu Park, Oyvind Seland, Jens Stoll, Karl-Hermann Wieners, Tongwen Wu
Summary: This study evaluates the long-term changes in stratospheric ozone and water vapor in CMIP6 models under different emissions scenarios, highlighting both global and regional patterns. While global mean TCO is projected to recover to 1960s levels in the middle of the 21st century, tropics may not reach the same levels due to various factors including reductions in ozone-depleting substances and changes in tropospheric ozone.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Edward Charlesworth, Felix Ploeger, Thomas Birner, Rasul Baikhadzhaev, Marta Abalos, Nathan Luke Abraham, Hideharu Akiyoshi, Slimane Bekki, Fraser Dennison, Patrick Joeckel, James Keeble, Doug Kinnison, Olaf Morgenstern, David Plummer, Eugene Rozanov, Sarah Strode, Guang Zeng, Tatiana Egorova, Martin Riese
Summary: Water vapor plays a crucial role in the climate system, affecting various aspects including radiation, cloud formation, atmospheric chemistry, and dynamics. The abundance of water vapor in the lowermost stratosphere has a significant impact on the atmospheric circulation in both the stratosphere and troposphere. Current climate models show a moist bias in this region, which can be attributed to the transport scheme used. This study highlights the importance of accurately representing lowermost stratospheric water vapor in models and suggests the use of a less diffusive Lagrangian scheme to improve model performance.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tiehan Zhou, Kevin DallaSanta, Larissa Nazarenko, Gavin A. Schmidt, Zhonghai Jin
Summary: As atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration rises, stratospheric radiative damping increases, resulting in a shorter simulated period of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). This suggests that increasing stratospheric radiative damping due to rising CO2 may impact the QBO period in a warming climate, along with other factors responding to increasing CO2.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Ying Dai, Peter Hitchcock
Summary: The study shows that air-sea interactions over the North Pacific lead to the basin-asymmetric response to sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs), while SSWs occurring without atmospheric precursors exhibit a basin-symmetric response.
JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Debra K. Weisenstein, Daniele Visioni, Henning Franke, Ulrike Niemeier, Sandro Vattioni, Gabriel Chiodo, Thomas Peter, David W. Keith
Summary: This article reports the first multi-model intercomparison study on the injection of AM-H2SO4 to modify the particle size distribution in the stratosphere. The study evaluates the effectiveness of this approach in reducing the side effects of sulfuric acid aerosol geoengineering. The findings show that AM-H2SO4 injection can increase the radiative efficacy compared to SO2 injection. Additionally, the study reveals that the form and distribution of injected sulfur have an impact on the evolution of particle sizes.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Paul Konopka, Mengchu Tao, Felix Ploeger, Dale F. Hurst, Michelle L. Santee, Jonathon S. Wright, Martin Riese
Summary: The stratospheric water vapor (SWV) has been continuously moistening after a sharp drop in the early 2000s, with positive trends in the Northern Hemisphere and weak negative trends over the South Pole. The moistening in the tropics is closely correlated with the warming of the cold point tropopause and can only be partially attributed to El Nino-Southern Oscillation and volcanic eruptions.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Xinyue Wang, William Randel, Yutian Wu
Summary: Efficient pathways connecting surface air to the North American upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (NA UTLS) are important for understanding the transport of short-lived tropospheric chemical species into the lower stratosphere. Fast transport pathways into the NA UTLS region can occur in a small fraction of cases with modal age <20 days, mainly due to enhanced deep convection over the eastern Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Brian Zambri, Susan Solomon, David W. J. Thompson, Qiang Fu
Summary: The recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole has led to significant changes in the circulation and temperature of the Southern Hemisphere stratosphere, with trends showing the opposite of those seen during the period of ozone depletion in the late 20th century. The observed differences in stratospheric trends between the recovery and depletion periods are statistically significant.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Yan Xia, Yi Huang, Yongyun Hu, Jun Yang
Summary: The study investigates the variation in stratospheric water vapor using observations and simulations, finding differences in annual mean stratospheric water vapor among datasets partly caused by vertical transport variations. Upward transport of water vapor in specific regions of tropical areas, with temperature being a better indicator of interannual variability in tropical mean stratospheric water vapor. The radiative effects of long-term changes in water vapor in the lowermost stratosphere may be underestimated in ERAI and WACCM simulations.
JOURNAL OF METEOROLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ru-Shan Gao, Karen H. Rosenlof, Bernd Karcher, Simone Tilmes, Owen B. Toon, Christopher Maloney, Pengfei Yu
Summary: The article discusses a method called solar-powered lofting (SPL) that uses solar energy to deliver aerosol material into the stratosphere for climate intervention. This method shows that it is more energy efficient and faster in dispersing CI material, making stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) more feasible.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Young-Kwon Lim, Nathan P. Arnold, Andrea M. Molod, Steven Pawson
Summary: This study investigates the prediction skill of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) in NASA's GEOS-S2S forecast system, focusing on moistening processes crucial for MJO activity. Results show higher correlations in boreal summer initial conditions compared to winter, indicating better prediction skill for MJO activity in summer. Additionally, the study suggests that improving moistening tendency in certain regions during boreal winter could enhance the MJO prediction skill of the GEOS-S2S system.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Bryan N. Duncan, Carl A. Malings, K. Emma Knowland, Daniel C. Anderson, Ana Prados, Christoph A. Keller, Kevin R. Cromar, Steven Pawson, Holli Ensz
Summary: The combination of satellite data, low-cost sensor systems, and AQ models has the potential to provide valuable and cost-effective AQ information, particularly in countries without monitoring networks. NASA's free resources offer capacity building activities, satellite data, and global AQ forecasts that can benefit health and AQ professionals globally, including those in LMICs. These resources can help monitor air quality trends, assess emission controls, provide daily risk communication, and facilitate local health studies.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Scott D. Guzewich, Luke D. Oman, Jacob A. Richardson, Patrick L. Whelley, Sandra T. Bastelberger, Kelsey E. Young, Jacob E. Bleacher, Thomas J. Fauchez, Ravi K. Kopparapu
Summary: Volcanic flood basalt eruptions are associated with climate disruptions, ocean anoxic events, and mass extinctions. Short-term cooling can occur due to sunlight reflection by H2SO4 aerosols, while long-term warming can occur due to CO2 emissions and increased stratospheric H2O vapor.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Review
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Dann M. Mitchell, Richard K. Scott, William J. M. Seviour, Stephen I. Thomson, Darryn W. Waugh, Nicholas A. Teanby, Emily R. Ball
Summary: Polar vortices in the solar system are a nearly ubiquitous planetary-scale phenomenon, with recent significant advances in observation and understanding their dynamics. A new convention of vortex classification has been proposed to capture the diversity of observed polar vortices, highlighting their key role in global circulation and climate. The increasing diversity of solar system and exoplanetary data presents a unique opportunity to unify the understanding of polar vortices under a single dynamical framework.
REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Olga V. Tweedy, Luke D. Oman, Darryn W. Waugh, Mark R. Schoeberl, Anne R. Douglass, Feng Li
Summary: This study examines the response of the Northern Hemisphere summer monsoon anticyclones and UTLS ozone to increased CO2 levels, revealing that SST warming is the principal mechanism producing changes in the monsoonal circulation. The experiments also show a significant reduction of up to 40%-50% of UTLS ozone in the northern tropics, which could impact surface radiative balance.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Xiyue Zhang, Darryn W. Waugh, Gaige Hunter Kerr, Scot M. Miller
Summary: Ground-level ozone (O-3) is positively correlated with air temperature (T) and the ozone-climate change penalty (dO(3)/dT) can be used to predict the impact of climate warming on O-3. The spatial variation of dO(3)/dT is determined by simultaneous meridional advection of O-3 and T and can be approximated by their climatological meridional gradient ratio. Climate change is likely to affect dO(3)/dT due to changes in meridional gradients of T and O-3.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Junhua Liu, Sarah A. Strode, Qing Liang, Luke D. Oman, Peter R. Colarco, Eric L. Fleming, Michael E. Manyin, Anne R. Douglass, Jerald R. Ziemke, Lok N. Lamsal, Can Li
Summary: This study investigated global and regional tropospheric ozone changes and their impact on total column ozone from 2005 to 2018. It was found that the increase in tropospheric ozone is likely attributed to a growth of regional emissions of key ozone precursors, especially volatile organic compounds.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Joseph Robinson, Lyatt Jaegle, Luke D. Oman
Summary: This study examines the distribution of aerosol optical depth (AOD) in midlatitude cyclones in the northern hemisphere from 2005 to 2018 using MODIS retrievals. The results show that AOD is significantly enhanced in the warm conveyor belt (WCB) airstream, with fine mode AOD accounting for the majority of the enhancement. Coarse mode AOD is greatly enhanced near the center of the cyclone, coinciding with high surface wind speeds. The M2GMI simulations reproduce the magnitude and seasonality of the MODIS AOD composites and enhancements, showing the dominance of sulfate and organic aerosols in the WCB.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Leyang Feng, Sakineh Tavakkoli, Sarah M. Jordaan, Arlyn E. Andrews, Joshua S. Benmergui, Darryn W. Waugh, Mingyang Zhang, Dylan C. Gaeta, Scot M. Miller
Summary: US natural gas production increased by 43% between 2005 and 2015, and there is disagreement among studies on whether this growth led to increased methane emissions. The study evaluates the contribution of atmospheric transport to an upward trend in atmospheric methane during 2007-2015, finding that interannual variability in transport explains disagreements among existing studies over emissions trends. The study also shows that enhancements in methane levels are higher during El Nino than La Nina, possibly due to air masses spending more time over North America during certain years.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Feng Li, Paul A. Newman, Darryn W. Waugh
Summary: This article investigates the impacts of stratospheric ozone recovery on Southern Ocean temperature and heat content. The results show that ozone recovery leads to a decrease in temperature and heat content in the Southern Ocean, which is caused by the weakening of ocean circulation and heat transport.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
X. Zhang, D. W. Waugh, C. Orbe
Summary: Understanding the impact of climate change on the transport of gases and aerosols is important for policy and emission control. Model projections of tracer transport in climate change simulations vary due to uncertainties in the projected changes in the large-scale atmospheric circulation. A study shows that a shift in the Northern midlatitude jet and enhanced mixing result in changes in tracer concentrations, and this mechanism holds true in different simulations and versions of the model. Preliminary analysis suggests that this mechanism can also provide insights into the response of anthropogenic pollutants to climate change.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Anthony D. D. Toigo, Darryn W. W. Waugh
Summary: Observations show two different transient atmospheric events around the northern winter solstice on Mars: a warming of the polar lower atmosphere and a reduction in near-surface wave activity. These events are connected and depend on obliquity and dust optical depth. In past climates with low obliquity, these events are unlikely to occur or will be weak, while in times of high obliquity, they are likely to be strong and occur every winter unless the atmosphere is nearly free of dust.
PLANETARY SCIENCE JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ilai Guendelman, Darryn W. W. Waugh, Yohai Kaspi
Summary: This study used an idealized general circulation model to investigate the seasonal variations of polar vortices, finding distinct dynamic regimes for polar vortex seasonal cycle across the parameter space, some of which share similarities with observed polar vortices while others have no counterparts in the solar system.
PLANETARY SCIENCE JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Nora Bergner, Marina Friedel, Daniela I. Domeisen, Darryn Waugh, Gabriel Chiodo
Summary: Extreme events in the stratospheric polar vortex can affect the tropospheric circulation and surface climate. The austral stratospheric vortex shows the most variability in spring, and a weakened polar vortex is associated with changes in surface climate, including hot and dry extremes in Australia. However, the connection between polar vortex strength and surface climate on interannual timescales is still unclear.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Sarah A. Strode, Ghassan Taha, Luke D. Oman, Robert Damadeo, David Flittner, Mark Schoeberl, Christopher E. Sioris, Ryan Stauffer
Summary: This study develops a set of scaling factors dependent on solar zenith angle, latitude, and altitude to consider the diurnal variability in ozone and nitrogen dioxide. The use of a global atmospheric chemistry model allows for consistent comparisons between observations from different times of day. The application of these scaling factors improves the comparison between different observations and shows good agreement with correlative measurements.
ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
(2022)